Good evening and I hope your weekend is off to a good start. It’s Where-the-heck-is-Jeff Copperthite here today to bring you the latest installment of the Laptop Sessions, another in our series of Beatles cover songs, and session cover song music video #90 overall.

I am continuing to delve into the libraries of previously covered bands, and I have always enjoyed todays song a lot. It really is amazing just how many Beatles’ songs I know and am familiar with. Of that huge library, this is probably my favorite.

“You’ve got to hide your love away” is from the Beatles’ album “Help!” and it’s extremely incorrect Semaphore album cover. You may also be familiar with the cover version of this song by Eddie Vedder. And while that is a good version, it’s hard to beat the original.

You will notice a singing style that i’m not used too, and I feel it is quite effective. Lately I have been hearing great things about my most recent video, and that my ability to sing on video has taken a lot of leaps. i’m glad you think so! Thank you for all your support.

Also, i’m nearing 39K views, and while I fell about 2K short of my 40K goal by the end of August, I still did quite well and I am very proud of how we are doing. No reason we can’t continue to increase our views per day.1

I hope you enjoy today’s session, and return tomorrow for another great song cover by Jim Fusco!

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up. We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session. We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and origianal music blog again in the future. But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!

Welcome, welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions featuring myself and the Traveling Acai Berries! We’re continuing our month-long tribute to Beatles cover songs tonight (have you seen the great posts by Chris and Jeff these past two weeks?) with one of their finest early songs in “If I Fell”.

“A Hard Day’s Night” is an interesting film. If you haven’t seen it, it’s really worth your while. If you haven’t yet fallen in love with the Beatles, then this movie will seal the deal. If you’re someone who wasn’t fortunate enough to live through Beatlemania, then this movie will show you what it was really like. The fact that the boys could be so fun loving and charming during all that craziness proves why they were such a special group.

But, throughout the hype, they remained relevant and cool. You might write-off some of their early hits like “She Loves You” and “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” as early-sixties fluff (you’d be an idiot, by the way), but there were some really introspective gems throughout their first few albums. Go ahead and listen to “Things We Said Today” or “No Reply” and you’ll hear what I’m talking about. These guys were not only great musicians and songwriters, but they were “deep, man”. John Lennon and Paul McCartney (and even George Harrison on his early work like “Don’t Bother Me”) were ahead of their time in so many ways that I can think of 50 more songs I want to record for the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog.

“If I Fell” is one of those songs that just “gets you”. I, for one, cannot stop singing it in my head. The tune is one that goes back into itself constantly and is on permanent loop up there. Couple that amazing tune with the harmonies of John and Paul (with Paul’s amazingly high vocals that I think I nailed pretty well) and you’ve got a classic Beatles song, indeed. Both my father and my fellow Acai Berry Steve said that this song stood out to them when they watched “A Hard Day’s Night” and to me, that says it all. When you’re up against the heavyweight singles on that album (like the title track) and the response is, “If I Fell really stood out to me,” then you know it’s a great song.

We couldn’t get Steve on camera again this week and Chris C. was busy studying sheet music (you can finally hear him this week!), so he was off-camera. We had our fourth member, Bill, there for the session, but he had to leave early and we couldn’t get his guitar playing on the video. I’m hoping that Bill can coax Steve on camera, as four people on camera makes you stand-out much less as an individual than when there’s only two people. Anyway, I hope to record some more songs in two weeks, so maybe I’ll soften him up by then. Next week is the last of our Beatles quatrain (like that little music term there?) and we’ve got a whole bag of tricks that should keep things fresh and interesting here on the best music blog ever created!

That’s right, I said, “Best EVER!” Believe me? Then comment about it! We’d love to hear from you and, yes, each comment you leave brings Steve one more inch closer to appearing on camera! So, get commentin’ and we’ll see you next week for another installment of Jim Fusco Tuesdays. Stay-tuned for an all-new video by Jeff Copperthite, coming up Thursday!

Welcome to a slightly-belated Monday, Monday edition of the Laptop Sessions! Due to Rosh Hashanna celebrations, Jeff asked if Mike could step in. When that didn’t work out, it was left up to me to fill the space so the Laptop Session a day project can continue! I’ll have tonight’s video and tomorrow’s, as well, so Jeff will replace my regularly-scheduled acoustic cover song on Friday. Whippee- no video for me until Monday!

Tonight, you get Ringo Starr’s only Number One Billboard Hot 100 hit in “You’re Sixteen”. This has to be one of the most fun videos I’ve ever done and if you watch it, you’ll know why. My version even features the famous kazoo solo, originally played by one Sir Paul McCartney!

I love listening to random mode on my iPod (the “old” 80 gig model). I heard this song again (I’ve known it for years- who hasn’t?) and then decided to listen to the entire “Ringo” album. What a great one, including (no pun intended) the song “I’m The Greatest”, which I believe was written by John Lennon. Ringo always did collaborations well. Fans will hopefully remember “Never Without You” that he did for George Harrison with a guitar solo by the great Eric Clapton.

I suppose I should give Ringo songs a rest for a while, as I’ve done two recently. Which one, you ask? Well, the best way to find out these things is to visit the Laptop Sessions music video blog every single day, but if you missed it, you can just go to the Categories menu in the left bar and click on “Ringo Starr songs”. Until tomorrow, have a great one!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! I hope you had a joyous Turkey Day, “stuffing” yourself in the company of friends and “spuds” — I mean, buds. If you have tomorrow off, then that’s just “gravy”…

Okay, that’s enough of that.

Seriously, I hope you had a positive day, filled with family members and friends, enjoying a day off from work. As for me, I woke up late (almost afternoon) to a phone call from my sister. Knowing me all too well, my mother asked her to call me and tell me that dinner would take place a half hour before it would actually start.

At least I got there on time!

My day essentially started as soon as I got out of bed (at the early hour of noon) and went to my parents’ house. I had a nice, relaxing time talking with my parents and grandparents, as well as hanging out with my sister and talking about music. I brought my laptop over so I could finally finish the “2008 Essentials” mix CD I’ve been wanting to make for weeks. Some highlights were…

– “Living Well is the Best Revenge” (REM)

– “Valley of the Low Sun” (Jakob Dylan)

– “7 8 9” (Barenaked Ladies)

– “Cowboys” (Counting Crows)

and, of course,

– “These Streets” (MoU)

I’m not biased about that last one, I swear!

After dinner, I spent a long time talking with my parents and grandparents. Then, once the company had gone, my father and I watched the Tom Selleck movie The Shadow Riders. It was based on a Louis L’Amour novel, so it was pretty cheesy at times, but overall, it was a fun film. Once the movie ended, the day was still long from over. I went over Jim’s parents’ house to watch this week’s special Turkey Bowl edition of TNA Impact! (the highlight of which was, without a doubt, Mick Foley “dealing with” Alex Shelley of the Motor City Machine Guns).

A half hour after TNA was over, Jim and I were back home recording this great Beatles cover song, “Thank You Girl.” Why did I pick this song, you ask? Is it a favorite? Well, no. In fact, I didn’t even know it until yesterday. The reason is that it goes along with the theme of today — giving thanks!

I actually posted this video late because Jim and I ended up playing great Beatles and Christmas songs for another hour and a half before going downstairs to snack, watch a Jack Johnson DVD, and do research for our Black Friday adventure.